It was fantastic to see so many NRC games streamed over the last weekend. Brett McKay has been raving ever since about the quality of the BarTV stream, so we’ve kept him on ice again for the preview this week.

With the Wallabies squad off to the Republic and Argentina, it looks like the playing stocks of some teams will take a hit, while others will get a massive (hint, hint) boost.

On the field, Round 4 was a mixed bag. Melbourne Rising are clearly proving themselves to be the leading side in the competition, and by some way.

The other team that looked to be the frontrunner, NSW Country, surrendered an early advantage to Brisbane City in Lismore that they couldn’t claw back.

Brisbane City do look to be a team on the rise, but we won’t get any evidence of it this week, as they have the bye.

Poor Queensland Country and Sydney Stars sit winless at the bottom of the ladder, while the Rays registered their first win of the comp.

Lurking ominously in the middle are Canberra and Greater Sydney, the jokers in the pack, and they’ll be looking to build on their last couple of games this week.

The lack of streams will make live blogging tricky this week, so if you’re going to a game and want to live cover one, feel free to get in touch with us.

More NRC:
>> Full NRC Draw
>> Brett McKay’s round 4 NRC wrap
>> Perth Spirit should look to NRC players, not Super stars
>> >> Rams player ratings: Round 4

Queensland Country vs Greater Sydney Rams
Ballymore, Brisbane
Thursday 18 September, 7:30pm AEST
TV: Fox Sports

Queensland Country will be scratching their heads as to what they have to do to get a win. They had all the running in the second half, but a late hitback from North Harbour last week saw them sink to their third loss in a row.

Brett summed their plight up best in his own way in his NRC wrap this week:

“Country hoisted the wet sail in the last thirty minutes to not just draw level, but to even take a 29-24 lead with around five minutes to go.”

That late try must have hurt Country, who sit on no wins after three games.

The Rams are a team in form, having won two on the trot, although their win over the Sydney Stars won’t be giving too many of the top teams nightmares. Taqele Naiyaravaro, is precisely the stuff of nightmares, having scored four tries and terrorised opposing defences in the tournament thus far. He gave the Stars a torrid time of it last week, and will be looking to do the same again this week.

They will want to put this game safely away, with a bonus point if possible, against a winless Queensland Country team with no big ‘ins’ to speak of.

Will Slipper, James’ brother, will make his debut from the bench this weekend for Queensland Country

Team news:

Country
1. Haydn Hirsimaki – Sunnybank
2. Ryan Freney – GPS
3. Greg Holmes – Reds/Sunnybank (VC)
4. Rubin Fuimaono – Bond University
5. Dan Gorman – GPS
6. James Turner – Souths
7. Beau Robinson – Reds/Souths
8. Ben Adams – Sunnybank
9. Sam Grasso – GPS
10. Matt Brandon – Easts
11. Giles Beveridge – Brothers
12. Anthony Fainga’a – Reds/GPS (C)
13. Campbell Magnay – GPS
14. Tom Pincus – University of Queensland
15. Jamie-Jerry Taulagi – University of Queensland

Reserves
16. Tonga Ma’afu – Norths
17. Campbell Wakely – University of Queensland
18. Will Slipper – Bond University
19. Mitch King – GPS
20. Jack de Guingand – University of Queensland
21. James Tuttle – GPS
22. Clynton Knox – Brothers
23. Rota Setu – University of Queensland

Rams
1. Jed Gillespie
2. Hugh Roach
3. Guy Millar
4. Jared Barry
5. Steve Mafi
6. Hugh Perrett
7. Chris Alcock
8. Jed Holloway (Captain)
9. Mark Swanepoel
10. Ben Volavola
11. Taqele Naiyaravaro
12. Michael McDougall
13. Lalakai Foketi
14. Jarome MacKenzie
15. Dane Chisholm

Reserves
16. Peni Ravai*
17. Cameron Betham*
18. Dave Lolohea (FR)
19. Dylan Sigg
20. Pat Sio
21. Vasa Falaelii
22. Jai Ayoub
23. Henry Seavula

Tickets: Get them here.

Twitter: #Qldvram

The Roar‘s live blog: As it’s on Fox, we’ll have a live blog of the action.

Sydney Stars vs Canberra Vikings
Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
Saturday 20 September, 3:00pm AEST

All form would suggest this should be a walkover.

Canberra have perhaps the second strongest team on paper, after Melbourne, and have won their last two games after a disappointing start against the Spirit. With the likes of Robbie Coleman, Fotu Auelua and Henry Speight all likely to be available for selection, they would think some points are up for the taking against the Stars.

Unfortunately for them, it looks like all the Wallabies names in the squad yesterday will be missing, so that means they won’t have key players in flyhalf Christian Lealiifano and Joe Tomane. Big losses, both.

The Stars are a side that many expected to be one of the teams to catch before the start of the season, due to their connections to traditional powerhouse Sydney University. It certainly doesn’t help that a host of Sydney Uni players are playing for the Wallabies right now, but the opposite has proved the case.

They do have one big plus going for them this weekend, and that’s the dropping of Will Skelton from the Wallabies squad. It’s a good chance for the big man to get more game time at a high level, and a great time for him to fire up and play big minutes. Expect some Vikings mauls to be destroyed by him.

Team news:

Stars
1. Jeremy Tilse
2. Tom Coolican
3. Paddy Ryan
4. Andrew Leota
5. Will Skelton
6. Tipiloma Kaveinga
7. Patrick McCutcheon (C)
8. Sam Quinn
9. Jake Gordon
10. Stuart Dunbar
11. Jono Sullivan
12. Jim Stewart
13. Michael Hodge
14. James Dargaville
15. Jack Macklin

Reserves
16. James Willan (FR)
17. Tom Robertson (FR)
18. Laurie Weeks (FR)
19. Matthew Philip
20. Hugo Dessens
21. Jock Merriman
22. Jonathan Fakai
23. Jono Loseli

Vikings
1. JP Smith
2. Lala Lam
3. Allan Alaalatoa
4. Tim Cree
5. Jordan Smiler
6. Jarrad Butler (c)
7. Sean Doyle
8. Fotu Auelua (c)
9. Michael Dowsett
10. Isaac Thompson
11. Robbie Coleman (vc)
12. Rodney Iona
13. Nigel Ah Wong
14. Jerome Niumata
15. Jesse Mogg

Reserves
16. Mitch Wade
17. Joel Penders
18. Les Makin
19. Tom Staniforth
20. Rory Arnold
21. Joe Powell
22. Drew Southwell
23. Lausii Taliauili

Tickets: Can be found here

Twitter: #Sydvvik

The Roar‘s live blog: Again, unless someone volunteers, we won’t have anyone there.

NSW Country vs Melbourne Rising
Wade Oval, Orange
Saturday 20 September, 3:00pm AEST

Sunday arvo Country footy. We can already smell it. Brett will be there too, giving us score updates, so jump on the live blog when you see it pop up. They’re also putting on a bit of an event, with wine and food set to feature prominently, so if you like good things in life, we suggest you get down there.

On the park, this is a truly mouthwatering contest. Melbourne have clearly displayed themselves to be the best side in the competition, knocking off all comers so far.

NSW Country have proved to be a close second, though their loss to Brisbane City puts a dampener on that. Brisbane City, if anyone, is probably third on that ranking.

But if anyone was to knock off Melbourne, it’s likely to be Country. They won’t have Josh Mann-Rea, who will be travelling with the Wallabies to South Africa, but they should have the rest of their forward pack intact, and that’s where they will target Rising.

It’s not that Rising’s forward pack is anything to sneeze at – they are pretty stacked with Super Rugby talent in that area with Pat Leafa, Luke Jones, Lopeti Timani and Sean McMahon all some of the best performers in the tournament so far.

Keep an eye on Andrew Kellaway and Brendan McKibbon for Country, who are the dangers in a potent backline.

But Rising should have the edge in the backs through Stirzaker, Debreczini, Inman and English. If Country can upset Stirzaker’s ball then they’re in with a shot. Otherwise, it could be another romp for Rising, who’ve already scored 223 points. In four games. Yup.

Team news:

Melbourne Rising
1. Cruze Ah-Nau (Footscray/Melbourne Rebels)
2. Pat Leafa (Box Hill/Melbourne Rebels) (Vice Captain)
3. Paul Alo-Emile (Power House/Melbourne Rebels)
4. Sam Jeffries (Melbourne Uni/Melbourne Rebels)
5. Cadeyrn Neville (Foostcray/Melbourne Rebels)
6. Luke Jones (Moorabbin/Melbourne Rebels)
7. Sean McMahon (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels)
8. Lopeti Timani (Footscray/Melbourne Rebels)
9. Nic Stirzaker (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels) (Captain)
10. Jack Debreczeni (Endeavour Hills/Melbourne Rebels)
11. Joe Kamana (Moorabbin)
12. Mitch Inman (Southern Districts/Melbourne Rebels) (Vice Captain)
13. Tom English (Melbourne Uni/Melbourne Rebels)
14. Rennie Lautolo-Molimau (Endeavour Hills)*
15. Telusa Veainu (Melbourne/Melbourne Rebels)

Reserves
16. Tom Sexton (Power House/Melbourne Rebels)
17. Tuiatua Tuia (Moorabbin)
18. Fereti Sa’aga (Melbourne Uni)^
19. Pom Simona (Harlequin) (Vice Captain)
20. Sione Taufa (Harlequin)
21. Ben Meehan (Box Hill/Melbourne Rebels)
22. Lloyd Johansson (Harlequin)
23. Martin Naufahu (Foostcray)^

We’ll have the Country team here as soon as it’s announced.

Tickets: Can be found here.

Twitter: #Eagvmel

The Roar‘s live blog: We’ll have scores, thanks to the man on the ground Brett McKay. Jump on there and join the banter!

North Harbour Rays vs Perth Spirit
Brookvale Oval, Sydney
Saturday 20 September, 5:30pm AEST

North Harbour got away with one last week against Queensland Country on the Gold Coast, and will be hoping that it goes a way to kickstarting their season. With a set of Shute Shield stalwarts locking down some key positions, there’s no doubt the Rays have the potential to make an impact against Perth.

After a promising start, the Spirit will be quite disappointed with their last three outings. Losses to Brisbane City, the Rams and Melbourne Rising will have them desperate in this one, and this is a game they can certainly win. Losing Matt Hodgson can’t have helped, of course.

Matt Lucas impressed enough last week to hold his spot over the impressive Josh Holmes, no mean feat.

Lucas’ performance against Country had many in rugby circles chatting excitedly about the stock of halves available to the Waratahs (and North Harbour!).

They were well run out of the halves by Hamish Angus, and did enough to get their first win on the board.

With neither Perth or North Harbour particularly impressive so far this competition, it will be interesting one to watch.

It’s a twilight fixture at Brookvale Oval, so should be a great one to watch between two evenly matched sides.

Team news:

North Harbour
15. David FELTSCHEER (Warringah)
14. Cam CRAWFORD (Northern Suburbs)
13. Michael ADAMS (Warringah)
12. Brian SEFANAIA (Manly)
11. Sireli TAGICAKIBAU (Warringah)
10. Hamish ANGUS (Warringah)
9. Matt LUCAS (Manly)
8. Sam WARD (Warringah)
7. Boyd KILLINGWORTH (Warringah)
6. Harry BERGELIN (Manly)
5. Greg PETERSON © (Manly)
4. Ed GOWER (Manly)
3. Tobias GUKIBAU (Gordon)
2. Luke HOLMES (vc) (Warringah)
1. Mitch LEWIS (Manly)

Reserves
16. Dave PORECKI (Manly)
17. Dane MARAKI (Manly)
18. Nick FRASER (Gordon)
19. Ryan MELROSE (Manly)
20. Jack DEMPSEY (Gordon)
21. Josh HOLMES (Warringah)
22. Scott DARUDA (Manly)
23. Mali HINGANO(Manly)

Perth Spirit:
1. Joe Savage (Palmyra)
2. Robbie Abel (Cottesloe)
3. Oliver Hoskins (Cottesloe)
4. Corey Thomas (UWA)
5. Brent Murphy (Perth Bayswater)
6. Richard Hardwick (UWA)
7. Kane Koteka (Wests Scarborough)
8. Alex Rovira (Associates)
9. Justin Turner (Associates)
10. Zack Holmes (Associates)
11. Va’a Mailei (Palmyra)
12. Luke Burton (UWA)
13. Ammon Matuauto (Associates)
14. Brad Lacey (Wests Scarborough)
15. Dillyn Leyds (Palmyra)

Reserves
16. Harry Scoble (UWA)
17. Alec Hepburn (Cottesloe)
18. Kaisa Reidy (Cottesloe)
19. Scott Stevens (Nedlands)
20. Ross Haylett-Petty (Cottesloe)
21. Oscar Backhouse (UWA)
22. Michael Ruru (Nedlands)
23. Davis Tavita (Nedlands)

Tickets: Tickets to Brookvale are available here.

Twitter: #Rayvper

The Roar‘s live blog: No live blog, unless we can find someone!

NRC ladder after Round 4
Melbourne Rising 20, NSW Country Eagles 15, Brisbane City 12, Canberra Vikings 9, Greater Sydney Rams 9, Perth Spirit 5, North Harbour Rays 4, Queensland Country 1, Sydney Stars 0.